Seabee Cruise Book, Operation Deep Freeze I, 1955-56 Task Force 43

OPERATION DEEPFREEZE was planned in two stages. OPERATION DEEPFREEZE I, in 1955-56 was designed to build an airfield at McMurdo Sound. Another base was to be built near Little America in the Bay of Whales. Seven ships and 1800 men participated in the first year. OPERATION DEEPFREEZE II, in 1956-57, was intended to build a permanent station at the South Pole along with establishment of three other IGY stations...Byrd station in Marie Byrd Land, Wilkes station in Vincennes Bay and Ellsworth station on the Filchner Ice Shelf. Even though Byrd was in command of the operation, effective control of the operations were under Rear Admiral George Dufek. Deepfreeze I was a resounding success and with twelve ships and the assistance of 3400 men, Deepfreeze II succeeded in the establishment at the South Pole. Initially, a support base was built near the Beardmore Glacier where supply planes returning from the pole could stop and refuel. The base could also serve as an emergency rescue site. At the pole, the construction team built shelters, a power station and workshops. Plane after plane dropped hundreds of tons of supplies and equipment to make the base self sufficient. Once completed, the construction team was flown out and the scientific team flown in to be the first humans to spend winter at the South Pole. The station was completed in March 1947 and 18 men remained for the long winter. Chief of the scientific staff at the South Pole was Paul Siple, who was 19 years old when he accompanied Byrd on his first expedition in 1928. On September 18, 1957 the temperature reached a record -107F. After 43 years, the Navy officially withdrew from operations in Antarctica on February 20, 1998. Over the past three decades, most American operations in Antarctica have been under the authority of the National Science Foundation, although the Navy ran station kitchens, stores, security and transportation. The science foundation has contracted these functions to a commercial organization, Antarctic Support Associates, based in Denver, CO.